gel coat restoration

[dcobbett]

I’m looking for some advice and opinions regarding refinishing the exterior of Potter era hulls.

I’m currently talking to the second owner’s of a 79’ 20MA that is located down south. The hull color is what I would call a light Robin’s egg blue (is that what is called Potter blue?). The images the owner sent me showed small, white patches on the hull. Apparently, the original owner (79’ through 02’ +/-) used white gel coat patches on minor nicks, etc.

In general, can these be removed/redone with any hope of blending back into the hull’s current finish?

The other day, I had a conversation with the owner of one of the area’s more highly regarded fiberglass shops and came away with the following prices and opinions (on a 20’ hull, Algrip + $2,400+/-, strip and repaint the bottom with 2 coats ablative + $600+/-, 5 coats of epoxy barrier coating on the stripped hull + another $600+/-). The shop owner also said that chalky white hulls can usually be brought back to somewhat near original condition, but he didn’t think it was worth trying that with chalked, colored hulls.

Again, in general, do these prices seem in line with quotes that others are getting, and what are your experiences and thought about trying to restore the gel coat on colored hulls vs white?

[Scott]

The hull color is what I would call a light Robin’s egg blue (is that what is called Potter blue?).

That’s the color of my hull ...I'm interested to hear if that is truly the name of the color..

In general, can these be removed/redone with any hope of blending back into the hull’s current finish?

Any Fiberglass/gelcoat guy worth his salt can match it ...its tough to do because of the shade. I've also talked with a gel coat manufacturer that claims with a chip of my gel coat they can match the color perfectly.

The shop owner also said that chalky white hulls can usually be brought back to somewhat near original condition, but he didn’t think it was worth trying that with chalked, colored hulls.

I think that’s according to the hull ... I have wet sanded my hull (in a small area) and its a mirror finish !! White hides "problems" better... But colored hulls can be worked out with some elbow grease (and a good buffer)

Again, in general, do these prices seem in line with quotes that others are getting, and what are your experiences and thought about trying to restore the gel coat on colored hulls vs white?

$120/ft (hull sides only)... I don’t know where you live but in my area that would be a decent price ... The yard I'm in is in the $150/ft range…and up and UP (prep, prime and spray Alwgrip) This is more the typical price for quality work in the area. there are cheaper ..but the quality isn't there. Down south seems to have much better prices for quality work .. I'm sure part due to competition and not having to deal with weather(cold) like we do

I saw a boat( getting a new T-top put on her) that was sprayed locally (don’t know by who) and I was told by the T-top guys that the owner paid around $2500 for spraying the 23’ hull ..HOWEVER you could read the old name of the boat right through the new paint job (print through) Make sure you check out other spray jobs the yard has done

[dcobbett]

Scott,

I live in 20 minutes north of Boston. How much better are the prices in the red state section of our country? If I found a project boat down there, do you think it would it be worth considering having some work done locally before I hauled it up the coast?

[Scott]

I think so ...But I'll let the guys from the south fill you in on those details ...We have discussed it here and its always less money down south…much more cost effective, but kind of far away to check up on progress.
Case in point ..transom replacement in my area your looking at 4-5K easy ....Down there I've heard more like 3K …Look for a post by Mark called “DONE” in the “general section” … you will see what, with lots of “vision” and planning on Mark’s part, the Florida guys are capable of !!!

Don’t get me wrong there are a few guys in my area that do outstanding work ...boats look flawless ... however rumored costs on a couple of 23's (transoms, paint (in and out), brackets, pretty much doing complete restores...have exceeded 30K ...
I talked to one guy that wanted 10K for a full transom (which meant filling in the notch WITHOUT recoring the whole transom and getting rid of a splashwell, then creating a new cap on the transom and floor) a bracket setup ….and was looking for 12K to spray the boat in and out

One I heard was over 65K but that included new console, motor on the bracket, new hard top and lots of other things…the boat is beautiful …and is better than new